1. أفخر العشيرة من غالب

    ألان أضيع رجا الطالب

    O noblest of the clan of Ghalib,

    Has the seeker's hope now been lost?

  2. وأصبح صبح الهدى نافضا

    شحوبا على اللفم اللاحب

    And the dawn of guidance has begun shedding

    Pallor upon the broad road [reading uncertain].

  3. غربت وكم قمر حائل ال

    طلوع على القمر الغارب

    You have set; how many a moon is dimmed in its

    Rising above the moon that has set.

  4. مصابك قد حلَّ في الشارع ال

    أصم وفي القاطع القاضب

    Your loss has struck the leveled

    Solid spear and the keen, cutting sword.

  5. أصبت بسهم الردى صائباً

    لأخطأ سهم الردى الصائب

    You were struck by death's arrow, true to its mark;

    Surely death's unerring arrow has erred.

  6. غلبنا عليك وهل غالب

    يغالب حبيش القضا الغالب

    We were overcome in the struggle for you; can any victor

    Contend with fate's conquering host [reading uncertain]?

  7. إذا الدهر أصلح من جانب

    ألحَّ فافسد من جانب

    When time sets things right on one side,

    It persists in ruining them on another.

  8. لقد جرَّ مجرى له أرعنا

    جناحاه سداً فضا الراحب

    Indeed, it has drawn a mighty host along its own course;

    Its two wings have barred the broad expanse.

  9. تحوم العقاب على قلبه

    فتطفو حصاة حشا الهائب

    The eagle circles above its heart,

    Making the pebble in the fearful one's breast float up.

  10. تعصب يقرع تاج العلى

    على مفرق الملك العاصب

    Girding itself, it strikes the crown of glory

    Upon the brow of the king who binds it on.

  11. يفاجيك منتصباً همه

    لهمِّ يسيغ القذى ناصب

    Its purpose catches you unawares, standing erect,

    Intent on a wearying sorrow that makes one swallow grit.

  12. فلم يجدِ منه وعدوائه

    احتراز المقيم ولا الهارب

    So against it and its onslaught, nothing availed:

    Neither the caution of one who stayed nor of one who fled.

  13. يسور بارقمه سائبا

    حذارا من الأرقم السائب

    It lunges with its spotted serpent unleashed;

    Beware the spotted serpent running loose.

  14. يعود الفتى بعد وجدانه

    رجوعاً إلى حمأ لازب

    After his prosperity, a young man returns,

    Back to dark, clinging mud.

  15. يصيح بنا هائب فوقنا

    ولم نصخ للصائح الهائب

    A fearful caller above us cries out to us,

    Yet we did not heed the fearful caller.

  16. لكل امرئ أجل محرز

    بذاك جرى قلم الكاتب

    Every person has a fixed, appointed term;

    Thus ran the writer's pen.

  17. يغيب وكم غائب آيب

    وكم غائب ليس بالآيب

    He departs; how many an absent one returns,

    And how many an absent one never returns.

  18. هو الحتف خلف عنّا حافل

    فهلا وقفت على الناضب

    It is death; a brimming teat has passed from us [syntax uncertain].

    Why, then, did you not stop at the dried-up one?

  19. حلوب يدر بلا عاصب

    وصفو الحليبة للشارب

    A milk-giving beast that yields without being bound,

    And the purest milk is for the drinker.

  20. فإن لم تلِ الرأي من حازم

    فحاصف رأيك كالعازب

    If you do not draw counsel from a prudent man,

    Then even your sound judgment is as if absent.

  21. إذا شئت سلم حروب الزمان

    فسالم على الزمن الحارب

    If you seek peace amid the wars of time,

    Then make peace with time, the warmaker.

  22. ولا تضعِ القوس من حاجب

    ولو كان قوسك من حاجب

    And do not lower the bow from your brow,

    Even if your bow were from Hajib.

  23. أرى الموت أقرب من حاجب

    لعين وعين إلى حاجب

    I see death as nearer than an eyebrow

    To an eye, and an eye to an eyebrow.

  24. أبا محسن إن حسن الفعال

    يعقب حسناً إلى الراغب

    O Abu Muhsin, indeed, goodness in deeds

    Brings goodness to the one who desires it.

  25. وهبت حبا النفس عن رغبة

    وفضل المواهب للواهب

    You willingly bestowed the soul's gifts,

    And the merit of gifts belongs to the giver.

  26. تنال المطالب في مدرك

    وإن المطالب للطالب

    Desired goals are won where they can be reached,

    And desired goals are indeed for the seeker.

  27. أطاعك عزم ولا صارم

    إذا السيف عاصي يد الضارب

    Resolve obeyed you, though no keen sword did,

    When the sword defied the striker's hand.

  28. ولو كان طوعي ثني الحمام

    وليس الزمام على الغارب

    And if turning death back were within my power,

    And the rein did not lie loose upon the withers,

  29. لحولت رجلك عن مركب

    ودافعت منك يد الراكب

    I would have turned your foot away from the mount,

    And warded the rider's hand away from you.

  30. لقد كنت في زمن ماحل

    كمثلك في زمن خاصب

    Indeed, you were in a barren time

    Just as you were in a fertile time.

  31. وقرة عين امرئ طالب

    وخاب فياصفقة الخائب

    And a delight to the eye of a seeker;

    He is disappointed—alas for the loser's bargain!

  32. ندبناك في إيما معضل

    وأينك من مصرخ النادب

    We called upon you in every hard predicament;

    But where are you to answer the lamenter's cry?

  33. فقدناك فقد قطاً عاطش

    لمنهل ورد القطا السارب

    We have lost you as thirsty sandgrouse lose

    A watering place visited by sandgrouse in flocks.

  34. رثيت ولم أقض من واجب

    عليَّ ولا البعض من واجب

    I have lamented, yet fulfilled no duty

    That binds me—not even a part of a duty.

  35. سقيت وإن كنت صوب الحيا

    سكوبا بصوب الحيا الساكب

    May you be watered, though you were a downpour of life-giving rain,

    Abundantly, by the downpour of life-giving rain pouring forth.